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Research was conducted to examine roost selection in the pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Nine internal and 26 external characteristics of 21 known roost buildings were compared to 17 random buildings located in northeast Scotland. Common selection features were the presence of a nearby tree and the existence of linear vegetation leading away from the bats. The best indicator for bats roosting in buildings is percentage cover within 50 m of the building.

The influence of non-polarized light on the direct homing of grass ants, Tetramorium caespitum, was investigated under different conditions to determine if these ants use light as homing cues. Results reveal that ants can home under blue and overcast skies and non-polarized light. The homing mechanism appear to be a form of dead reckoning where the ants integrate directional and distance changes made during the outward trip into the homeward path.

The honey bee's ability to take short cuts between two feeding sites was investigated to determine the existence of cognitive maps in these insects. Findings showed that bees never took shortcuts but used homeward directions in reaching the sites. Bees that have been trained in only one feeding site were not able to travel directly home. These results suggested that inference of a cognitive map in bees would br premature.

The role of olfaction on the homing ability of precocial or semi-precocial chicks of underground-nesting seabirds were analyzed in Hydrobates pelagicus or the British storm-petrel. Homing experiments with the British storm-petrel chicks indicated the absence of parent-offspring recognition after the end of brooding. However, British storm-petrel chicks exhibited olfactory homing abilities and are capable of nest recognition which were crucial for survival.

The Atlantic salmon is renowned for long migrations in the ocean and, more important, precise homing to its original river. A study shows that the Atlantic salmon homes by learning which river it left during migration. However, homing is not perfect and, sometimes, it stray into foreign rivers. When salmons beget offsprings, the progenies that survive adopt the new river as their home.